Leopold Strauss (Redwood universe)
Leopold Strauss is a major villain who appears in Redwood's universe of Red Dead Redemption II. He at first appears as one of the "good guys" along with his ally Micah Bell, but later turns out to be one of the main antagonists at the near end of the game. Him and Bell were the main reasons why Dutch's gang fell apart. Biography According to himself, Strauss was born on April 15, 1843 in a poverty of a place in Vienna, Austrian Empire. By the age of fourteen, his brother was already a petty crook beating up even poorer people on the street for some food under the orders of the town's watchmen. Strauss' father sold his own daughter, a nine-year-old girl, away into slavery and rape before belting and bruising her across the face and viciously canning her himself in order to provide for the rest of the family, breaking her brother's heart while Strauss almost laughed himself to tears. Rumours have it Leopold himself convinced his father to sell their sister away because she once said that she was "daddy's favourite" and he was desperate to prove her wrong. It is also noted that Strauss apparently killed his own grandmother in her sleep when he was thirteen as she "disrespected him". Due to his "wicked ways", Strauss jumped off the ship he was on with his parents to the United States, landing right into Texas instead of Arizona. Many decades had past while Leopold was living in many countries of southern America where he worked as a bookkeeper, debt collector, amongst other sorts of similar occupations. But while on the run after robbing a general store, Leopold had to flee all the way to Louisiana on all: foot, horse and even stagecoach. After coming to the unfamiliar land, Leopold found a poor, lost, fatherless Micah Bell crying on the streets and took him his own son, teaching the already treacherous and sadistic young criminal how to manipulate and intimidate people. Both of them later got inducted into Dutch's Gang, where Leo became the group's accountant, along with handling Dutch van der Linde's loan-sharking businesses. Unfortunately for Dutch however, taking in Strauss and Bell was the worst mistake he could have ever made. Red Dead Redemption II Soon after Dutch's Gang arrives at Horseshoe Overlook from a snowy mountain camp, Strauss immediately starts up his loan-sharking business, with almost black demonic-like saliva dripping from his mouth; he can't wait to bully someone into taking a loan. He then asks his friend, Micah Bell, to collect money from debtors like Chuck Matthew, Wróbel, and Lilly Waterbury. Lastly, Strauss asks Arthur Morgan to get him the money from one last debtor: Thomas Downes. Leopold, along with John Marston is then briefly seen drinking in a saloon in Valentine until both men are taken hostage by Leviticus Cornwall's army, who want Dutch (who was also in the saloon) dead for robbing their lord's train. In the ensuing gunfight, Leopold is shot in the leg and has to be carried to safety by John and then back to Horseshoes'. Strauss blames his injury on John, however. After the gang arrives at a new camp location of Clemens' Point, Strauss gives Arthur and Bell each one more mission of collecting money from debtors. Micah is tasked with getting all the mula back from Winston Holmes, who lives in a camp located north of Strawberry while Arthur is ordered to make Guy Hughes pay his debts. While the results of Bell's mission are unknown, Arthur successfully convinces Guy to return Strauss the money he owes after a couple of punches in the nutsack. However, after giving the money back to Strauss at the camp, Leo greets Morgan with only a couple of scolds and mere insults, assuring him the "debt has long been paid.", leaving Morgan and us confused as all hell. It is possible Leopold had already send Micah previously after Hughes to pay his debts. After the gang moves to Shady Belle, Strauss asks Arthur kindly to collect him the money from Algernon Davidson. Davidson tells Arthur he doesn't have the money, leaving Arthur no other choice but to kill him in "self-defence". After getting rid of Algie's stinking body, Morgan loots his house and finds some money in a chest to return to an ungrateful Strauss. Strauss then joins the gang in robbing a wealthy businessman and gambler Desmond Bittler on a Grand Korrigan riverboat. However, the Parasite doesn't assist the gang at all during the robbery, more or less only joining it for the fortune he can get out of it. He lastly escapes the ship with Arthur, Javier Escuella, and Josiah Trelawny after getting all the money and jewellery they needed. When Dutch and his gang arrive at Beaver Hollow, "Zee" Ubermensch gives Bell one more money lender to collect from. The debtor being poor o' John Weathers, a deserter from Fort Mercer. Bell found him west of the gang's campsite, trying to fix a broken wagon, but fails. Weathers begs Micah to spare him as he can't pay off the debt in money, but Bell and Straw can have some of his jewels instead. Bell takes the jewels, claiming they will save Weathers from a torturous death as would money, and then rides off to give them to Strauss for which Strauss is grateful for. Nearing the end of Dutch's gang fragile stability and concerning Morgan's doubts about it, Agent Andrew Milton reveals to Arthur that the moles who were ratting out Dutch and his bunch to the Pinkertons were actually Strauss and Micah all along, not Molly O'Shea. Arthur presents this information later at the camp (where Leo is absent) to a stressful Dutch van der Linde, but Micah denies it and Dutch believes Bell with full will. This was the final straw for Arthur, and a betrayal, as Dutch raised Arthur as his own and he has been loyal to him for decades, whereas Micah and Strauss had only been with the gang for mere months. A year later, Micah created his own gang, taking Herr Strauss with him and some of his old buddies, Cleet and Joe. Throughout the years they committed various crimes which resulted in several vicious murders, rapes and other crimes, such as dismemberment and battery. Micah even murdered a young girl, a pregnant woman and an infant in cold blood, something Leopold highly approved of. He also tortured and raped a homeless man with a hacksaw to death with Strauss enjoying every minute of it. While the gang was hiding out on Mount Hagen, Sadie Adler (also a former member of Dutch's gang) catches wind of Micah and his gang's disgusting activities, and rounds up Marston and Charles Smith to assist her in disbanding it. Death After killing most of Bell's gang members at their hideout, Strauss himself, along with Joe, and two other members, encounter John Marston as he makes his way up the mountain. After a brief confrontation and discussion of "the good o' days in Dutch's gang", John shoots and kills Joe and his allies, before finally killing Leopold after short shootout with the former Banker. Personality Strauss can be noted as a serious yet humorous, sadistic, mean-spirited, commanding, evil and unemotional monster of a man with no apathy at all and a pure black hear, but those traits are probably what inspired him to get a job as a loan-sharking bookkeeper. As expected, like Micah Bell, he is anything but devoted to the gang he joined, giving them up as soon as possible to the Pinkertons, hoping the gang would be brutally tortured and slaughtered to pieces. He is best known as a 'parasite' for only joining the gang to suck it out dry completely, then leave it behind to die and rot. Other than that, not much else is shown about Leopold's personality and there probably doesn't exist anything else of it. However, despite all of those negative traits, it is possible Leopold indeed actually cared for Bell and his gang (Bell's own gang), showing he had just a little bit of heart after all. Trivia *Strauss speaks in flowery, charismatic eloquence in kind of a similar to an average attractive gentleman, although without masking his evil and demonic persona, as a villainous tone can still be heard in his words if one emphasises on them correctly. *Despite his occupation or his entire outlook on life being the direct opposite, Herr Strauss identified as a socialist, like Dutch van der Linde. It is possible he only did so because he loved to hide his immorality under the false guidance of great, progressive morality. Gallery Leo_Strauss.jpg|8 points for Herr Strauss. Morgen_und_Strauss.jpg|Strauss explaining to Morgan which folk owes him money and what they do. Leopold.png|Strauss' disturbing face. Straw.jpg|Strauss' artwork. Bell_und_Strauss.jpg|Leopold and his BFF, Micah Bell, talking at the camp. Leopold_und_Morgin.jpg|Morgan standing face to face with the rat, holding moneybags. 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